Abstract
The official South African systems for rural regional development planning do not allow democratic representation, are not effective and need reorganisation. The National Regional Development Programme acknowledges the dynamic nature of development planning, but the system is still trammelled by earlier misconceptions. Similarly, in rural regions the demand for regional services does not warrant regional services councils. In a new structure proposed for rural regional development planning each municipality provides all services and its boundaries are extended to include its rural hinterland. Regional services councils become regional development councils with the sole purpose of promoting social and economic development. Nongovernmental organisations and interest groups form standing committees to liaise with regional development councils. Implementation of development proposals will rest with local and higher levels of government.
Notes
Respectively Senior Lecturer and graduate, Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Stellenbosch. Van der Bank thanks the CSD of the HSRC for financial assistance towards the research for this article. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are the authors’.